Apple is set for a big product announcement this morning in San Jose, Calif. While nothing is for sure, the rumbling across the press is that the technology giant will announce a smaller, cheaper version of its very popular tablet.

The "iPad Mini," reports The Washington Post, "is rumored to have a 7.85 inch screen and run on Apple's A5 chip, with a very thin and light design."

"The offering stands to be the first new class of hardware Apple has introduced since the iPad went on sale in 2010. People familiar with the matter say the smaller tablet, whose name is unknown, will have a screen around 7.85 inches and look similar to the existing iPad. Apple is also expected to announce updates to other product lines, including computers, at an event in San Jose, Calif.

"Such a device would compete squarely with devices like Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire and Google Inc.'s Nexus 7, already on the market. These and other roughly seven-inch devices from Samsung Electronics Co. and others will account for about a fifth of the tablet market this year, according to Piper Jaffray."

Reuters reports that if this rumor comes to fruition, it will be the first new product to be added under the leadership of Tim Cook, who took over from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

"Apple sensed early that they had a real winner with the iPad and that has proven to be correct," Lars Albright, co-founder of mobile advertising startup SessionM and a former Apple ad executive, told Reuters. "They have a large market share, and to protect that market share they have got to be innovative."